A Heart Of Fire & Ice
by From Hero To Shadow
Summary: Icecloud has had a hard life, raised as an assassion she knows what she is just not who she is. But after a mistake she finds her self in a new world, with talking hedgehogs! Now she must work with our old heros and their kids to save both their worlds!
1. Prolouge

_Ok so hi, I've never posted a story on this site before, or any site for that matter. However I have worked really hard on this story, and I hope whoever reads it likes it. Enjoy!_

_A Heart Of Fire & Ice_

_By From Hero To Shadow_

_Prolouge_

_The sound of snarls and barks can barely be heard over a powerful blizzard raging across the mountain side. You can just see the flares of burning flames though the thick swirling snow. A blur can be seen running north, with three others in pursuit. The blizzard lessens for a heartbeat, and in that moment you can clearly see a panting she-galien, turning to fight. Her once gleaming white pelt covered in bleeding wounds, her yellow eyes shimmering with a determination to live._

_As the snow closes in again, she opens her jaws pouring a white-hot flame thrower on two of the pursuing galiens. They then howled in agony and ran away, still burning. That left just one more, a large male nearly six feet tall. The she-galien was now gasping for her every breath, but determined, she dug in her four paws and took off as fast as she could. Once again, she headed north. The male, his eyes gleaming with hatred, gave a ferocious snarl and with a lash of his jet black tail gave chase. He was following the sent of blood!_

_Ok, thats the prolouge hope you liked it. I know it was a little short thought and the next chapter will be longer, I promise. Oh, and Sonic and co. will be around in a couple of chapters. When they do show up thought, it will be cool. Please Review!_


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

_13 years later..._

_A she-galien, cloaked in shadows, quietly watches as her target, a noble galien, steps out of the now abandoned underground hideout. His short brown fur was bristling with fear, even though he was surrounded by seven of his fiercest bodyguards. His eyes nervously scanned the undergrowth. He knew they were coming for him, but he also knew if they sent __her __he was as good as dead._

_As the target and his guards reached the tree line, the ebony-striped watcher made her move. Before anyone could blink, she had taken down one guard; biting his neck with more than enough force to snap it. All the while, the noble galien was cowering and howling, " Protect me you fools! Now!" . The remaining guards scrambled to stop her. She leaped up, unsheathed her claws; and skillfuly came down, slashing anothers throat. Blood went spraying through the air._

_The remaining guards hesitated. The she-galien smirked, showing her sharp incisors. She then lunged foward, curling into a tight ball and spiked her thick fur until it was razor sharp, "Razor Spin!" . Spinning, she cut two of the guards clean in half, spilling intestines and blood across the grass. Still spinning, she bounced off a massive oak tree, leaving a large furrow in the old bark and decapatated two more guards._

_She then hit the ground, unrolled and stared at the last remaining guard; who lay cringing in the blood stained grass. " P-please dont k-kill me, p-p-please i'll do a-anything!" . Her cold ruby-red eyes stared at him with scorn. With no remorse, she slashed his throat , causing him to go limp and gurgle his last breath. She had butchered all seven of them in under a minute._

_While staring at the last guard's body, with his blood still pooling around her paws, she said in an impassive voice: "And don't think i've forgotten about you noble." The noble, who had been trying to slink off unnoticed into a patch of bushes, stopped and replied in a cowardly voice: " Whatever they are paying you, i'll double it, thriple it even!" His eyes grew frantic with fear as she turned and walked toward him, with dark intent. " Whatever you want! Gold, jewels, all the riches you could ever imagine!" Stopping directly in front of him, she said in a voice as cold as ice: " Only a fool tries to cheat death with money." She bared her fangs and in the blink of an eye, sank them into his throat. As his blood splattered her face, with his dying breath he managed to gasp one final name," Ice...cloud."._

_That was the first actual chapter, hope you liked it. I tried to make this one a little longer, and I think it turned out ok, but I would love to here your thoughts. Please Review!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

_Icecloud felt suprised that he would know her name, but only tightend her grip: it was over in seconds. She dropped the blood soaked corpse and looked at the carnage surrounding her. "Pathetic" , She said with a snort "they where not even worth my time, I hope the boss will be pleased at least" . Looking up at the sun, she sees its only about 10:30 in the morning and killing the noble and his guards took even less time than she thought it would. What was she to do now? The boss said to be back at exactly 2:00 in the afternoon, so she still had three and a half hours of time to kill. She looked down at herself and growled with irritation. Her normaly soft, white fur was completely matted and covered with coagulated blood. Even her ebony stripes looked a little red. Icecloud gave a deep sigh and looked around again, she'd killed the noble and others at this location because it was so remote. It would be hours before someone stumbled upon their bodies and, by then she would be long gone. If she remembered correctly, there was a large lake south-west of here, called the Lake of Rainbows. The blood-soaked galien ran off in that direction ._

_It didn't take as long as she thought it would to get to the lake, only about 30 minutes. It was autumn and the forest was stunning, with all of its changing leaves. At least the trip wasn't dull. _The lake thought_, she thought ,_was truly beautiful._ It sat in a large clearing which was boardered by tall oak trees and full of lush green grass. The lake itself was well named. The pristine water was full of sparkiling rainbow fish that could be seen from the treeline. "Lake of Rainbows indeed. _This whole area was in fact, gorgeous,_ she thought. _The boss would kill me,_ she remembered suddenly, _if he knew I was thinking like this, again._ To shake all of the thoughts from her head, she ran into the clear lake and watched the water turn red with blood._

_After a time of simply cleaning herself, she waded into the deeper water and dove under. She opened her amber eyes and watched the rainbow fish swimming lazely. _It really is peaceful down here,_ she thought slowly sinking, __so unlike the base._

_-Flash Back-_

_" Gotta go faster!" thought a young amber-eyed galien. She was running through a training maze, if you could call it that. The much smaller Icecloud jumped over a patch of hidden spikes, but as she landed she accidently tripped on a nearly invisible wire. This caused a bombard of bullets to fire at her with deadly acurracy. With the agility of one much older, she managed to dodge most of them, but was still caught in the shoulder by a ricochet. As she howled in agony and fell down, her eyes squeezed shut with the pain. Just then a hidden intercom crackled to life and her eyes cracked slowly back open, revealing her unspilled tears. "Get up now or else you will run the maze again." The cold words were spoken in the boss's even colder voice. With a tiny whimper of pain, Icecloud dragged herself to her paws and ran on, with her shoulder still dripping blood._

_-End Flash Back-_

_With a start, I was jerked out of my flash back, a rainbow fish with more nerves than the others was right in my face! I swiped a paw half-heartly and it swam away with a spurt of bubbles. With an inward sigh I got ready to swim back to the surface, but just before I could, something bit into my neck!_

_So thats chapter 2, hope you liked it. I think my storys going pretty good, and its only going to get better...I hope. Please Review!_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Icecloud twisted away and with a thrash, she sank her teeth into the foreleg of her surprise attacker. As the blood began to fog the water around them, she released her grip and unsheathed her claws. She sliced at the large furry body biting at her, but missed. She lunged to attack once more, but before she could land a blow, there was an eruption of bubbles as her attacker swam back.

_How DARE someone attack me_!: Icecloud snarled to herself as she swam to the surface. Fully intent on ripping someones throat out. When she reached the surface, she took a deep breath and paddled to the shore. Without pause, she turned back to the water to get the drop on her foe, but froze with suprise. It was already there!

_But not an it, _ she thought, _a him. _He was staring at her with large puzzled aquamarine eyes. He was a galien with rather large pointed ears. His fur was short and inky black - minus a small patch of fluffy white on his chest. His foreleg was still oozing blood from her viscious bite. He looked to be about a year younger than her own sixteen years. " What did you do that for?" he asked, still looking puzzled. His question was surprising to her. She had expected him to attack her when he had an advantage, not ask questions.

"Because you attacked me!", Icecloud answered. _What's with this guy?_

"Attack you?", he barked in amazment, "I was saving you! You were drowning!".

"Saving me!", she growled, "I was just fine untill you attacked me!".

"I came running by and saw you go under. Blood was everywhere and you didn't come back up. What was I supposed to think?" He asked. _He must not have seen me before I dove under, _Icecloud realized. "And I did **NOT**attack you", he continued, "I grabbed your scruff to try and pull you up." He held up his wounded leg. " But you flipped out, and started biting and scratching me." Icecloud glared at him a moment longer then, with a flick of her ears, she turned toward the treeline. She started walking in that direction, or tried to, that is.

"Hey! Where are you going?" he asked, trotting up beside her. "Go away," Icecloud growled with irritation , flicking her ears with annoyance. " Don't I even get an apology for you attacking me?" He asked with mock hurt in his voice. "You look fine now." Icecloud muttered, noticing that he was no longer limping._ Had her bite done so little damage?, _she wondered. "So, you still _tried _to really hurt me" , he shot back. Icecloud growled. She wasn't excactly sure what it was, but something about this guy was really grinding on her nerves.

Icecloud came to a hault as they reached the treeline and with a low menacing voice, she warned: "You are really, really...starting to bug me...go away...you little...brat." _Wait. Did I just say little brat? Real clever Icecloud._ Needless to say, not the least bit offended, he just wagged his tail and replied: "Only if you tell me your name, mines Manic.". The white galien glared at him, with daggers in her eyes, and responded, " Like I would tell you my name." Without waiting to hear his comeback, Icecloud turned and ran off at top speed. She only bothered to look over her sholuder once to see if Manic was behind her, he wasn't. However, she couldn't shake the strange feeling that this wouldn't be the last time she would encounter "Manic The Brat".

Icecloud ran for good while in order to sooth her nerves. The soothing run, which led her deeper into the forest, also left her thirsty. She stopped at a shallow stream and leaned down to try and quinch that thirst. After a much needed and refreshing drink, she looked up at the sun and froze; it was half an hour later than the time she should be back at base. She knew it would take at least another hour to get back to base from here, by then it would already be too late. Reguardless, she took off toward base as fast as she could.

Suddenly, Icecloud came to a screetching hault, sending up a spray of dirt. She'd been running toward base as fast as she could, but still arrived two hours late. Now, finally though, she was standing in front of the hidden entrance that belonged to the most feared organization on the planet. With a deep sigh, Icecloud knew she was going to be in _sooo _much trouble, she walked foward and pressed her paw into a patch of raw dirt. There was an electric twitter and a metalic voice said: **"Agent 4213, please state the entrance password." **"In a heart of ice there is fire." Icecloud replied with no emotion. **" Entrance granted." **Without a sound, the ground shifted to reveal a underground stairway.

The gailen moved her paw and stared motionless at the dark passageway. It was as if for a moment, just a moment, she knew a new chapter of her life was beginning. With a sudden shake of her head, she walked into the forbidding tunnel and toward what was to be the beginning of the end.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

At the same time Icecloud was walking into the underground hideout, in an alternate universe on planet Mobias, none of our heroes, old or new, were aware that a series of events were about to ensue, that would turn their world upside down.

There was no sound to be heard, except for that of the breeze rustling the green leaves and wild grass. The sky was light blue with barely a cloud in view and the sun was shining brightly. On a hill, under a beautiful oak tree, a dark hedgehog was kneeling next to a tombstone.

His crimson eyes ached with sadness, but there were no tears, not anymore. Shadow the Hedgehog gave a deep sigh and stood up. He was still wearing his usual attire, even after all these years; from his black, yellow, and red hover shoes to his golden power rings. Shadow stared at the beautiful ivory tombstone and for what felt like the millionth time, he read the words inscribed in graceful writing:

Here lies Rouge the Bat

A master treasure hunter

A loyal friend

A wonderful wife

And a loving mother

May she rest in peace

The warrior shut his eyes. After all these years, it still hurt like it happened yesterday. He reached around and pulled the red chaos emerald from his quills. With a last glance at the grave of his beloved, he muttered, "Chaos Control." Disappearing in a flash of red light.

"Dash! Storm! Time for dinner!" called a pink hedgehog from the bottom of the stairs. Instantly two teenage hedgehogs streaked down, with speeds rivaling that of their father's. Dash, at sixteen, was the image of his father: from his blue quills, to his green eyes. Even in his nature, which was rash and daring. Storm, though slightly younger: a fact Dash never let him forget, was the more mature of the two. He had midnight-blue fur with white stripes on his quills, similar to Shadow's. While he also had his father's bright green eyes, his nature was much calmer, like his mothers. Also like his mother, if you got him mad enough, he was unstoppable.

The two brothers ran into the bright kitchen and practically dove into their seats, for seated before them was a gianormous platter of freshly made chili dogs. Amy took her time coming into the kitchen and smiled fondly at her sons, as they sat drooling before their favorite dish. "Mommm, can't we eat now? I'm starving!" whined Dash. "Now Dash," Amy said, taking her seat,"you know we have to wait for your father to get ho-." Before she could finish, a blue blur shot through the front door like a gust of wind."Hi guys , I'm home!"Sonic called.

"Hey dad!" Storm called out with a smile, "your late, starting to lose your touch?" "You wish Storm!," the speed demon shot back cheerfully, as he stopped to kiss Amy on the cheek. "Sorry I'm late honey. There was a robbery in Soleana, and G.U.N had to call me in. Same ol same ol, you know how it is." "Yeah, G.U.N couldn't catch a cold. That's why you always get called in to kick butt.", Dash chirped. Amy just smiled and said: "well, I'm glad you're home dear. Sit down and we can all enjoy dinner." While Sonic and Dash promply crammed as many chilidogs into their mouths as possible, Storm shot them a grossed out look and started to eat his own chilidogs, in a somewhat neater fashion.

Amy still couldn't help but think again how lucky she was. It had beem twenty years since Sonic's twenith birthday, and the day he had stared to return her love. The'd dated for almost three years before Sonic had propursed. Amy still smiled when she thought of their wonderful wedding. Every one had been their even Shadow and Rou...Sonic had just been sooo hansome in his black tuxseto. Only two years afterword, Dash had been born, and after that Amy had convinced Sonic that he needed a somewhat safer life style, so he had started working for G.U.N part time, but he still fought Eggmen whenever it was needed. Almost a year after Dash, Storm had been born, and Amy's life had finally felt complete. As Amy ate her chilidog, and watched her family. She couldn't help but think life was perfect.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am **_**so **_**sorry this took so long, but its by far the longest chapter yet so I hope that kind of makes up for it. Oh, and I'm kind of a lazy writer so there might be a little wait between chapters. But don't worry I wont be one of those writers who never finish their story, and leaves all their readers hanging. This story **_**will **_**be finished! Enjoy!**

**Rated T for a little blood.**

Chapter 5

A Blast from The Past

It's a beautiful day at Mystic Ruins. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and a quaint two story house is sitting on a hilltop. All is peaceful and as it should be. Suddenly, though, an explosion is heard from a distance. It was coming from a lab several hundred yards away and sending huge plumes of smoke into the air.

A tan and brown spotted rabbit, known as Cream, threw open the front door of the house and started running in the direction of the smoking lab. Quite a feat considering the form fitting orange and white dress she was wearing. Her daughter, Cinnamon, was rushing to follow close behind.

Cinnamon, an eight year old fox-rabbit hybrid, was justly named. She had cinnamon colored fur, with a slightly lighter muzzle and chest tuft. She had twin tails, with matching white tips, like her father. She also had the triangle ears of a fox, but they were a little longer than normal; and you could say the left one drooped slightly.

She was wearing a white and orange dress, identical to the one Cream use to wear as a child. Cinnamon's light brown eyes were filled with worry, as she struggled to keep up with her mother. They reached the smoking entrance to the lab at the exact moment that both Tails and Patch came bursting from the doorway, coughing and rubbing their eyes.

Tail's orange and white coat, along with his brown vest, was stained black from the smoke. His blue eyes were streaming with tears. Patch was wearing a brown vest, like his father, but still he looked more like Cinnamon; not surprising since they were twins. They were identical except that Patch's ears didn't droop and he had another lighter patch of fur over his right eye.

"Tails! Patch! Are you ok!" Cream cried, grabbing Patch in a tight hug. "Mom!" Patch gasped, "I'm fine, really!"

Cinnamon also ran forward and with tears in her eyes, hugged her father. "Shhh shhh, it's alright sweetheart, daddies fine." Tails said hugging her back, and doing his best to comfort her.

Patch did his best to wiggle away from his mother's embrace, succeeded, and then asked; "Shouldn't we move away from the burning building?" Tails and Cinnamon both looked at him for a split second, then Cream gently replied, "Yes, my sweethearts we should, let's go." The four of them then quickly backed away to a nearby hill and watched, in somber silence, as the lab continued burning.

"What were you two working on anyway?" Cinnamon asked. "Yes, what _were _you working on?" Cream questioned, with a - you weren't doing something reckless look were you – look at Tails; who sheepishly flattened his ears.

"Well, we _were_installing the new propulsion system for the Tornado X," Patch explained, with an equally sheepish look at Cream. "But the wiring backfired, causing that stupid fire! Before dad and me could put it out, it reached the gas tank and caused the explosion you and Cinnamon saw." Tails gave a deep sigh and said," It will take Patch and me months to rebuild the lab, let alone the Tornado X." "Yeah, but at least no one got hurt daddy." Cinnamon said, giving the smoke-stained fox another hug. "Yeah, that's true. We were lucky we were near the exit when the lab exploded." Tails said, perking his ears again.

"Tails, how long do you think that fire will burn?" Cream suddenly asked. Patch beat his dad to the punch, "A couple of hours at least." "Can't we just use some water and put it out ourselves?" Cinnamon asked with a frown.

"Well, no", Patch continued with a faint blush, "The lab was full of that hotter longer lasting alternative fuel. The batch we were perfecting for G.U.N. It's going to take a lot more than just water to put that fire out, but it shouldn't spread."

Cream stood up and sighed, "Well, what we _all_need now is a good cup of hot chocolate. Tails, you and Patch are both in severe need of a good bath... So, let's all head back to the house for now." Cinnamon wrinkled her nose slightly, as she sniffed the air, "Uhhh...you two do kind of stink!" Tails and Patch both blinked and shrugged, mirroring each other perfectly.

~#~

"There, isn't that better?" Cream lovingly cooed. She was in the process of serving her family some hot chocolate. Cinnamon gently blew on her drink, to cool it down before she took a sip "Yea mama it's great." "Its wonderful Cream", Tails complemented with a happy sigh.

Thanks to Tail's relaxing shower, all the smoke was cleaned out of his now damp fur. He had changed from his dirty brown vest into a clean, pale blue one.

"I agree with Cinnamon and dad mom, it's awesome!" Patch exclaimed with a sleepy sigh. He had taken a shower too and, like his father, his fur was clean but damp. He also had changed from his filthy vest, to a much cleaner green one. Now he looked like he was about to fall asleep at the table.

Cream was beaming as she sat in her place at the dining table. "Thank you", she replied in her soft eloquent voice. Cinnamon took another sip of her chocolate and said "I'm just glad that fire finally went out, it burned for almost _four _hours."

Patch's head shot up, "The fuel made it burn three times as fast!" he proudly boasted, but suddenly his pride faded. "And it burned all our plans and projects to ash!" Tails sat down his mug and assuring said," Don't worry Patch. We memorized most of the plans, so we shouldn't have much trouble rebuilding the lab or tornado X. In a couple of months you won't even be able to tell there was a fire," He smiled encouragingly at his son.

"Yeah sweetie, your sister and I can help you clean up," Cream said with a look at Cinnamon, who was still sipping her hot chocolate. "Of course I'll help you and dad, you're my family and families help each other." Patch looked around at his family. "Thanks guys, really. I don't know what I'd do without you."

_~#~_

_~Shadow's POV~_

I slowly walk forward, into the menacing ravine, and out of the midday sun. There is no point in using chaos control when you want to get somewhere as slowly as possible. I looked around and there was no sign of him, surprise surprise. Continuing to walk in the ravines' shadow, I softly called, "Manic, are you here?" After waiting a moment for a nonexistent reply, I sighed, and padded to a large stone on the side of the ravine. I pressed my gloved hand against it and pushed. Without a sound a large section of rock shifted from the wall and slid back, revealing a dark entrance. Without hesitating I walked inside and a moment later the wall of rock slide back into place. After a short journey, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and walked right into my living room.

Despite being underground I had an electrical system, and the den was brightly lit. It had a classical European theme with two black leather loveseats, and a 62 inch plasma TV dominating one wall. The walls were bare of any pictures; family or otherwise. Another glance took in the empty soda can on the table and the dirty socks lying on the carpet, all signs of none other than my son. "Manic!" I ground out. He knew better than to leave such a mess. I started toward the kitchen then stopped. Behind the couch, and out of my view seconds before, was a crimson stain in the carpet.

It didn't end there, their was droplets of blood trailing across the floor to the hallway. The one that led to Manic's room. What was blood doing here? I clenched my teeth as the thought of an intruder entered my mind, and what about Manic. I still hadn't seen him. The Professor? No, the blue rat had already defeated him in Solanna earlier that day. Even the Professor didn't like to be beat twice in one day. All these thoughts passed through my head in a matter of seconds as I crept into the hall following the scarlet trail.

It continued down the hall, past my room and the bathroom, towards Manic's. As I approached the bend in the hallway, the blood trail thickened. Someone had been bleeding an awful lot, I thought with a satisfied smirk. Turning carefully around the bend, I'd learned to be cautious as the years passed; I froze in surprise the smirk sliding from my face. Instead of the door to Manic's room, I saw something out of a Sci Fi flick. The blood splatters led directly into a... a vortex. Listening, even with the ears of the ultimate life form, I could only pick up the slightest whirling of wind. Despite the lack of noise, the vortex appeared to have purple lightening flickering around it. It was a swirling white grey color its self. With a center as black as midnight, and about three feet taller then myself and five feet wide. But what the hell was it doing in my house! And...Where was Manic?

**A/N: Will that's chapter 5, hope you liked it. Whether you did or you didn't however, I would greatly appreatate a review. I tried to keep the characters as IC as possible especly Shadow, and I think I did a pretty ok job myself. Oh, and it shouldn't be that long before the next update as all I have left to do is revise it. Please review!**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Knuckles Apprentice

"Ha! Bet you didn't see that one coming dad," Shouted Violet with triumph. She was an echidna, like her parents. She had beautiful violet eyes, with red fur and dreadlocks. She was wearing cammo, from the bandana holding back her dreadlocks down, to her shirt and jeans.

She dropped down from the tree she'd been perched on, landing softly on the grass, without a sound. Knuckles snorted and tried to look as dignified as possible- a hard feat to accomplish when you're in a net, dangling ten feet above the ground.

"So, how long do you think I should let you hang there?" Violet asked, with a good-natured smile. She knew her father would be able to break out of the net as soon as he wanted to. The sturdy plant fibers were no match for his strength. It was the fact that he had walked right into the trap that counted, she had passed the test.

"You can't leave me in here!" Knuckles replied with his own smile. "What would Tikal do?"

Violet pretended to think about it for only a moment, and then finally said, "Mom would be just fine."

Knuckles just smirked and raised his fists to slash at the net, which easily snapped. The red echidna's eyes widened in surprise just before he hit the ground, square on his backside.

Violet sighed as she walked over. "Dad, you know I would have gotten you down." Knuckles intently hopped off his rear. "I'm the guardian of the Master Emerald! I don't need help getting out of a net!"

"Sure you don't dear." A soft voice chuckled as its owner stepped out from behind a tree. Violet looked up and beamed. "Hey Mom." Knuckles looked up and blushed. "Hello Tikal didn't see you there."

Tikal smiled fondly and stepped closer. She was wearing a basic white blouse with brown jeans. "I see you bested your father Violet. I'm proud of you; your trap was well set." Violet smiled; delighted she had impressed her mother.

"It was. I'm proud too honey," Knuckles said. He glanced at Tikal who gave a subtle nod. "In fact your mother and I believe its time you begin your apprenticeship." Violet's smile faltered for a split second, before she responded, in a slightly forced voice. "Really? I thought I wasn't going to start till I was 18."

"You were, but we think you have advanced so much at just 16, that it would be a waste of time to wait two more years." Tikal explained, with yet another soft smile.

Knuckles studied his daughter for a moment and asked softly. "Aren't you happy?"

Violet didn't hesitate, "Of course! You just surprised me, that's all."

"Great! Come on Violet, we need to go to the house and get ready for the ceremony." Knuckles said in what he thought was his most fatherly voice.

Tikal gave Violet a hug and said, "Your father and I are going to prepare the Master Emerald. Why don't you go clean your self up and process what is going to happen. After all, tomorrow is a big day for you."

"Okay Violet, we'll see you tomorrow at 9 o'clock in the morning, love you." Knuckles said turning north toward their home, and walking off. Tikal doing likewise.

_~#~_

_~Violet's POV~_

I stared at the swaying bushes where my parents had just walked through, with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I turned away and walked south, to the river that ran across Angel Island. As I walked, I did as my Mother had suggested: I tried to process what I had just been told.

I was going to have my apprentice ceremony two years sooner than planned. The ceremony was how the old guardian officially started the training of his or her future replacement: in this case, me. Mom and Dad had been training me since I was six, for the day I would one day replace Dad as guardian of the Master Emerald. There was just one problem, I may be a great fighter and even better strategist, but I just didn't want to dedicate my life to a rock, no matter how special. With a deep sigh I started to run, and it only took a few minutes to get to the river.

I slowed down to a walk as I approached the river, and then stopped entirely. Crouching down, I gazed at my disorientated reflection in the water. I don't know how long I crouched there, just staring at my reflection, before I felt the tears flow from my eyes. I do know I cried for several hours at _least._

I couldn't figure out how to get out of this mess. The Master Emerald needs a guardian, and my dads not gunna live forever. He had no clue as to how I felt about being the next guardian. I had been sure to never give him or mom any reason to doubt my wanting to guard the Emerald for the rest of my life...till the day I die...

I barely even understood why I had to be the next guardian. Mom and Dad say that only one who bears the crescent mark can guard the Master Emerald. I did have it; it was white- though at the moment smeared with dirt -and on my right palm. I guess I always thought that by the time I was eighteen I'd have found a way around it. Yet here I am at sixteen, with no solution in sight. Unless...wait would if _I_ found someone with a crescent mark? Then all my problems would be solved!

Wait. My ceremonies tomorrow, I can't find anyone that quick. I'm not like Sonic's family who can move at the speed of sound. However, if I ditched the ceremony to find a different apprentice…but how would I do that? Abruptly I stood up, my mind made up. I'm going to run away to find a replacement for myself!


End file.
